The
Diabetes in Pregnancy program of Eastern Virginia Medical School Program
offers a unique comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to the management
of patients who have diabetes during pregnancy.
Diabetes
patients of varying severity are cared for including those with Gestational
diabetes (diet-controlled or insulin requiring) as well as those who
require intensive insulin therapy and monitoring.
Diabetes
Services provided include:
Preconception
counseling
and management for women with diabetes contemplating pregnancy in
order to optimize perinatal outcome to help them achieve a healthy
pregnancy.
Group educational
sessions (usually limited to 4 patients at a time) as well as individual
teaching is offered for women diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
Nutritional
counseling by a professional perinatal dietitian targeting the
special needs of women with diabetes.
Exercise
counseling for the pregnant woman with diabetes.
Comprehensive
diabetes teaching is provided by certified diabetes educators who
are also perinatal nurses. Educational material includes but is not
limited to: the risks to the fetus and mother, self-blood glucose
monitoring methods, management of hypoglycemia, self-injection and
insulin administration techniques, initiation and management of insulin
pump therapy.
Access to sophisticated
technology for prenatal diagnosis and antepartum
fetal surveillance. These include: genetic counseling, fetal ultrasounds
(to assess fetal development and growth), fetal echocardiograms (to
assess the fetal heart) and antepartum fetal heart rate testing (to
assess fetal heart rate and well-being ante-partum).
Clinical support
is offered 24 hours/day, 7 days/wk by perinatal RNs who are also Certified
Diabetes Educators (CDE).
Patients with
pregestational diabetes are
carefully monitored in the postpartum period until they can return
to, or be referred to, an endocrinologist or their primary care physician.
The program's goal is to ensure that women with diabetes have a healthy
pregnancy outcome for both mother and child. Services can include co-managed
care with the
referring physician or complete obstetric and diabetes
care when deemed necessary.
For further information click on any of the following topics:
This
information is not intended to substitute or replace the professional
medical advice you receive from your physician. The content provided
on this page is for informational purposes only, and was not designed
to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease. Please consult your
physician with any questions or concerns you may have regarding a medical
condition.
Diabetes
in Pregnancy Program
